Music Q&A: Mawkin

What informs your music and songwriting?
Most of the material we perform is traditional, so we tend to search through these dusty old manuscripts in libraries until we find a song that still has relevance today. You wont find any knights/maidens in our songs – the song needs to mean something to us, have a catch or a hook. This whole album is really about drinking songs from every angle: songs about going out and getting drunk with your friends, songs about alcoholism, songs about being left behind when you’ve spent all of your money on booze. We wanted to capture the full spectrum of the sauce!

How have you evolved as a band over the years?
We’ve really changed over the past five years. Touring with Bellowhead really honed our stage skills and crystallised it. When you have to go out in front of 2,000 people who have never heard of you and impress them on the first song it raises your game somewhat!

What are you up to at the moment artistically?
We’ve just finished working on our new album Down Among the Dead Men and will be touring it on 8-26 November.

What’s on your rider?
Hahaha! We don’t ask for much, just a bowl of M&M’s with all the chocolate sucked off.

Tell us your most embarrassing or surreal experience.
Blimey. Probably seeing Adrian Edmondson (Bottom, The Young Ones) in a bar and building the courage to go and say hello. When we finally dragged ourselves over to him he turns around and says “Ah wow! It’s the Mawkin lads!” That blew us away, what a lovely bloke.

What song do you wish you’d written?
I’m a massive Queen fan so I’d probably say Somebody to Love. It’s just pure genius.

What’s your worst lyric?
You’ll have to come to a show to find out for yourself!

Mawkin play: Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, 16 Nov; Assembly Room Theatre, Town Hall, Bakewell, 17 Nov; Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax, 19 Nov, The Musician, Leicester, 21 Nov; Glee Club, Nottingham, 23 Nov